Marijuana plan totally going to pot

When I last spoke to Patricia Pellegrino in May, she was waiting impatiently for the medical marijuana dispensary to open on Harrison Street.

Yesterday, I broke the news that it wouldn't be opening after all.

"You're kidding," she said. "Oh, my God. I'm really furious."

She's hardly alone in her reaction to this state-regulated dispensary debacle, which has been plagued by politics, ineptitude and bureaucracy ever since voters overwhelmingly authorized two years ago that these facilities be located in Massachusetts.

They were supposed to open this summer. Now they might open in November, or perhaps early next year. If the past is any indication, we'll be lucky if they open by decade's end.

Now, incredibly, we learn that the state's two biggest cities — Worcester and Boston — won't have a single dispensary after the state axed nearly half of the 20 proposed facilities that had received initial approval. For folks in Central Massachusetts, the closest dispensaries will be in Milford or Ayer, which could mean more than an hour's drive for some people.

What a mess. And what a shame for so many patients with cancer, Parkinson's and other conditions, who don't deserve to be left dangling.

In Worcester, Good Chemistry was rejected because of a misrepresentation on a single line of an application numbering more than 100 pages. Instead of indicating that the company met with just two of four officials it had sent letters requesting support, it left the impression that it met with all four of them.

So that's that. One stupid sentence, and Worcester is left out. This, despite Good Chemistry's solid track record in Colorado. Despite the fact that it scored either extremely well or relatively well on its entire application. Despite a letter of support from Worcester Mayor Joe Petty, who told the state he was "particularly impressed" that Good Chemistry voluntarily expanded the commonwealth's buffer requirements to 1,000 feet from a school or park.

In a prepared statement last week, a spokeswoman for Good Chemistry indicated that it didn't deliberately attempt to mislead anyone.

"Throughout this entire process, Good Chemistry has done everything possible to demonstrate to the Department of Public Health that we are a company of high standards, professionalism and integrity," Karen Schwartzman said. "To the extent that we made any misstatements in any of our application materials, we disclosed them as soon as we were aware of them."

But it's too late. And I'm not sure who to blame here — Good Chemistry, which screwed up? Or the state, which couldn't let a small one go for the sake of patients who will now lack ease of access to much-needed medicinal care?

This includes Pellegrino, a 73-year-old retiree and grandmother who has suffered a debilitating bowel condition for more than 50 years. She's tried everything — drugs, hypnosis, acupuncture — to relieve symptoms so severe that they often leave her home bound.

When her doctor suggested she try medical weed, she paid $236 for a recommendation from Canna Care. Just last week, days before the state Department of Public Health announced that only 11 of 20 dispensaries would receive provisional certificates, she was assured by Canna Care that the dispensary on Harrison Street would be opening soon.

"It's very frustrating, especially for people who are really ill and have been counting on this," she said.

Leaving the state's two largest cities without a single dispensary is more than frustrating — it's unconscionable. And it was never the intent of the voters.